DANI DIVINE poses in front of the Leroy the Label stand at LBB Oct (photo: Tony Mitchell)
“With the cost of living crisis, I see the same thing with TG as with LBB: people are committing closer to the day rather than buying tickets far in advance.
“Both businesses have been lucky in that they are still attracting good numbers. But people are deciding on the week if they want to spend money, rather than planning ahead.
“And we see with the vendors that those who post on socials or use newsletters more to give people an advance idea of what they will be selling on the day often do well.
“They understand that customers may want to have something in mind and mull over if that’s what they want so spend their money on, rather than making more spontaneous purchases.”
The UK currently has a couple of long-established monthly fetish fairs — LAM (London Alternative Market) in the capital and BBB (Birmingham Bizarre Bazaar) in the Midlands. People must ask you why LBB isn’t also a monthly event — what’s the answer?
Alexandra: “We just feel that potentially there isn’t the demand for it to be a monthly thing — it’s more fun to let some time pass and then have a big blow out!
“We also found that when we did do five a year (we did summer events a handful of times) there just wasn’t the same demand from spring to September. We understand that people have their money committed elsewhere — festivals and holidays, mainly!”
Charlotte: “LBB is synced to be in the lead-up to big Torture Garden events: Valentines, TG Birthday Weekend, Halloween, and December for Christmas and Not New Year’s Eve. And that has worked well for us.
“We can promote the markets to ticket-
holders, knowing people will be looking for outfits or accessories around those times.
“Some of those dates are of course general occasions that have lots of things happening in the wider fetish calendar too, and it makes sense to time a shopping event for when people are most likely to shop!”
My final question goes to Charlotte, and reflects the general problems finding venues for fetish-related events in London. After the revamp of McQueen made it unviable in autumn 2018 for LBB to continue there, by December the same year the event had been able to find a new home just around the corner at For Your Eyes Only. How lucky was that?
“It was one of those things where the universe worked some magic. I had been to the opening night of FYEO with a friend who was dancing at it; I got chatting to the manager and talked generally about the idea of doing something there in the future.
“So when we were on the hunt for a new space, I took Alex to see it. It was the last of half a dozen venues we’d seen that day and we’d been pretty despondent at the choices so far.
“Nowhere had been representative of what we felt was a suitable home for LBB, but when we walked into FYEO we both felt a buzz. It was such a good fit — a really stylised space with different areas for stalls but all in one big room.
“And the management were excited to work with us — it felt like we were taking a step forward rather than just fixing a problem, and that’s the best thing you can hope for when you are making such a big change.
“It was one of those instances where a change we wouldn’t have chosen to make actually ended up working out really well.”
Gothic-Image.com
HyderImages.com
Le Boutique Bazaar/facebook
Le Boutique bazaar/instagram
Léa Mortelle/instagram
GORGEOUS GIFTS like these Broke Boutique pieces will abound at Dec LBB (photo: Tony Mitchell)
Join Le Boutique Bazaar’s 10th Birthday Celebrations:
Sunday December 01 at For Your Eyes Only
Times: 13:00–19:00
Venue: For Your Eyes Only, 23 City Road, London EC1Y 1AG
Nearest Tube: Old Street
Tickets (18+): Advance from Dice.fm: £8; On door: £10
An exciting line-up of surprises is promised, including a prize draw for those buying tickets in advance. Prizes include:
£200 Charmskool Shop gift card
Five pairs of Torture Garden tickets
Two £70 gift cards for leather brand The Loussine
£50 drinks tab on event day
All advance tickets come with a 15%-off code for Charmskool too (check your confirmation email). Get your tickets at Dice.fm (link below).
Dressing-up is optional, but if you are dressing to impress, LBB’s hosts will be handing Charmskool vouchers to those in their favourite outfits.
They’ll also be a raffle (with a prize pot already exceeding £1,000 in value), which LBB will be co-hosting with East London Strippers Collective in aid of the The English Collective of Prostitutes — an organisation that campaigns for and supports sex-workers’ rights and safety.
There’ll be a line-up of more than 40 sellers, comprising LBB favourites and brand new traders including one from the USA, offering unique pieces perfect for holiday gifting. The list of LBB sellers correct at publication time can be found below.
LBB/dice.fm
LBB/facebook
LBB/instagram
LBB Dec 01 10th Birthday: Sellers List – correct at Nov 26
666999
Ada Zanditon
Agonai
Alexandra Rose Leather
Amentium
Anna Dominoes
Ash Wild Creations
B_Dodi
Broke Boutique
Cotswold wood art
Crystals n couture
Cursed London
Daddy’s Gurl – Resurrected Couture
Dollie’s Little Folies
EctoMorph
Eyes Overload
Glamourama
Haus of Mammilla
House of SXN
Iona Smith Scott
Kerris Spencer
Kraken Counter Couture
Lady Lucie
Leroy the Label
Maniacc
Michelle Mildenhall
Monika Bereza
Persephonie Ncredible
Prong jewellery
Provocateur Shop
Riot Pony
Scorned in Chains
Second Coming
Sensored
Seven Sin Latex
Softcore Hardware
Something Wicked
SPI&CE Intimates
Sstutter Ltd
The Loussine
Thira Taf
True colour collars
True Exotic
VeloNoir
LE BOUTIQUE BAZAAR venue For your Eyes Only is a short walk from Old St Tube (Google Maps)
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